cause we really don't have anyone else
by cedarrapidsgirl78
Summary: Spock learns something interesting from the personnel files. m/m relationship implied, Don't like, don't read.


**Title**: Cause we really don't have anyone else.

**Author**: cedarrapidsgirl78

**Pairing**: Kirk/McCoy

**Warnings**: just male/male slash, implied for now.

**Spoilers**:The movie, if you haven't seen it.

**Word Count**:~2000. Short for me.

**Summary**: Spock finds some interesting things in the personnel files.

**Notes**: See story.

**Rating**: PG-13, I guess. It's not that bad, really.

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, I just like to play with them.

**Notes: This idea came to me last night at 2 am while in the middle of a thunderstorm. I got to thinking about dogtags in the military, and an LJ icon of McCoy that says "If found return to J.T. Kirk." And I wrote Spock. I don't usually write Spock. Ask grissom500. And yes, I still owe her a Spock/Uhura fic for her computer being sick. This is not it. This is a plot tribble that tried to eat me alive. I almost got up at 2 am to write it longhand. Right now it's a one-shot, but I don't really like the ending, and I'm sure I'll hear about the funky ending, and maybe eventually it'll be a sequel. We'll have to see. Just a bit of K/M kinda fluff. I hope you like it.**

It was quiet on the bridge of the _Enterprise_. "All quiet on the western front," as Dr. McCoy might say. But Commander Spock knew that they were not going 'west', actually North-Northeast, and since they were streaming along in space at Warp 8, there was no 'front' either.

Spock took a minute from his work to look around the bridge. Everyone was rather lost in thought, nothing too deep, honestly, because at a moment's notice something could come up and everyone would be required to be ready immediately. Just idle daydreams, something to pass the time.

Chekov had a bit of a furrow in his forehead, it could have been some information under his fingers at the console, or maybe figuring out pi to the 75th decimal. Well, knowing the navigator, probably the 175th decimal.

Sulu was staring at the stars streaming ahead of them, maybe contemplating if that tomato seed he'd gotten was ever going to produce any real tomatoes some day. The pilot had been spending much of his free time in the hydroponics lab, doing research on the effects of space on photosynthesis.

Uhura was definitely daydreaming, Spock observed. She was staring off into the distance, a hint of a smile on her lips, her hands not even moving to monitor any possible errant static coming in from the comm channels. She could be thinking about me, Spock suddenly realized, and turned away from her quickly, hoping that the green tinge to his cheeks subsided before anyone realized it.

Aside from himself, that left the Captain. Spock had gotten to know him rather well in the last 6 months since the Enterprise had left for her first official mission, but, Spock had to admit, Kirk was still sometimes hard to read, emotionally. Right now the captain was sitting in his chair, looking straight ahead, but he could be thinking about anything. The last away mission, how to avoid his physical (again), figuring out how to make something called 'peeps' come out of the replicator, or more than likely, Spock surmised, sex. This was Captain Kirk, after all, pursuer of all attractive women.

Turning back to his console, Spock returned to his work. He had gotten the approval to go through the _Enterprise_'s personnel files and make sure all of the standard information on the crew was up to date. The captain especially wanted the Commander to check on the emergency contact information for everyone on board. Last month, they had lost an Ensign in Engineering, and upon accessing her file, found that vital piece of information missing. Naturally this caused a lot of headaches for all involved, trying to figure out who to contact, where to send any personal effects, and of course, trying to explain to Starfleet Command why said information was missing. Captain Kirk made it clear that he wanted every file checked for emergency contact info, and personally assigned Commander Spock to do it when he had the time.

It was a mundane task, Spock knew, but he also knew that it came with some responsibility. Having access to all of the crew's personal information meant this task needed someone with a high security clearance. As the Second in Command, Spock fit that criteria. Also, it was also imperative that anything seen by the person be kept in strictest confidence. Not that the captain didn't trust all members of his senior staff, but Kirk also knew that Spock doesn't gossip. Even when it was really good gossip.

Spock was almost done with the manifest, having flagged and noted any file that needed more to be complete. He supposed he should have started with the most senior staff, and worked his way down, but with the sheer number of Crewman and Ensigns on the ship, Spock had started at the bottom of the ranks and worked his way up. The younger members of the crew were the most likely to make mistakes while filling out forms, Spock had noticed, his list of crew members to hunt down for information had grown considerably during that checking.

Spock only had 2 more people to look up. He punched in the access code and brought up the file for "McCoy, Leonard H., Lt. Commander, Doctor", and scrolled down to the area in question. What he saw there stopped him in his tracks. "Emergency Contact-Kirk, James T., Captain, current location _U.S.S. Enterprise_."

To say the least, Spock was surprised. So surprised, he jumped a little in his chair. As Spock quickly regained his composure, he glanced surreptitiously at the Captain, hoping he'd not seen the gesture. Spock was not very good at lying quickly under pressure. But no, Kirk was still facing the stream of stars, absentmindedly chewing on his fingernail. Spock started to think.

Why would Doctor McCoy have the Captain as his emergency contact? Spock knew the Doctor's father was no longer living, but was unsure about his mother, or any possible siblings. And from what little Spock did know about Doctor McCoy's personal life, he was sure was that McCoy's ex-wife was certainly not going to be the first person to know if McCoy perished. He'd probably want her to be the _last_ to know, Spock figured. Spock knew that the Captain and the Doctor were close friends, if half of the stories he'd heard from their days in the Academy were true. And the way that McCoy rolled his eyes while the Captain was telling said stories made Spock doubt their authenticity even more. But he could not deny they were close friends. Did that justify a change in an official Starfleet legally binding document? Spock looked a little closer at his screen and found the date in which the change had been authorized. Around a month ago, and it had been done by the Captain.

Spock was thoroughly confused now, and he wondered about something. Closing the file, he opened another file, the last one to check. "Kirk, James T., Captain." Quickly, he made his way down the document, where he found what he had been looking for, and confirmed his suspicions. "Emergency Contact-McCoy, Leonard H., Lt. Commander, Doctor-current location _U.S.S. Enterprise_." Spock stared at the screen, trying to process this new information when something caught his eye. The date of the data change. The same day as the Doctor's, again authorized by Kirk himself. Spock gripped the console tightly, trying to ascertain the meaning of this, and realizing that the science station would not respond to the Vulcan nerve pinch, tried to relax. The captain's father had died in the attack on the _Kelvin_, of course, but once again, like Dr. McCoy, Spock knew nothing about the whereabouts of Kirk's mother or any potential siblings. Realizing that he was not going to figure out anything more from the personnel files, he closed the program. He spoke to the Captain.

"Sir, I have finished going over the files you asked me to look over, and have flagged any that need attention. With your permission, I would like to go to Sickbay for my scheduled physical." The Captain didn't turn in his chair, but did speak.

"Permission Granted, Spock. Thank you for finishing the files, I'll look over them later. Have fun at your physical." Now he did turn and smile at Spock. "Oh, yeah, one more thing..if Dr. McCoy asks, you haven't seen me today."

Spock raised an eyebrow and fought off the urge to reply with something that would probably be construed as sarcasm. He left the bridge and headed down to Sickbay.

Doctor McCoy greeted Spock with his usual charm and scowl. "Ah. You're here. Good. Let's get this over with, I have a lot of charts to catch up on." The exam room was quiet, as Spock let the Doctor do his work-. As Spock sat and waited while McCoy ran his tricorder over the Vulcan a half dozen times, and made notes in his PADD, he noticed a glint of silver on the little finger of Doctor McCoy's left hand.

Suddenly, Spock remembered something. One morning, at the beginning of the _Enterprise_'s voyage, he had noticed that Captain Kirk was wearing a new Starfleet class ring on the ring finger of his right hand. The new silver glinted off of the bright lights of the bridge, and Spock didn't think he remembered Kirk having it earlier. Of course, Spock had thought at the time, we _were _a little busy to notice jewelry. Then about a month ago, during another routine afternoon on the bridge, Spock noticed the ring was missing from the Captain's finger, and had asked him about it.

"Oh." The Captain had replied, looking at his hands. "Yeah, well, I gave it to a friend for safe-keeping. Guess with all the trouble I've gotten myself into lately, I thought I'd better give it to someone else to hold on to. I even took a chunk of the metal out of it on the left side the last time my hand got mangled." Kirk had smiled a little at that, which Spock had been sure was a reference to the last botched mission where Kirk had come back with more red than gold on his shirt. Spock had accepted this explanation.

And now McCoy had a Starfleet class ring. But not just any ring, as this ring also had a small piece missing on the left side. Spock had gotten a pretty good look at it, too, since the Doctor kept waving the tricorder right by his eyes. It certainly looked like the Captain's, the one he said he had given to 'a friend' for safe keeping. Spock knew that there were a lot of Starfleet class rings, especially aboard a Starfleet vessel. The odds of finding crewmen with jewelry in the similar design as the one the Doctor now sported were very high. Although Spock also knew that the odds of two rings both having a piece of metal missing in the same spot was a lot lower. Spock was going to severely test the Doctor's patience, and possibly earn him an extra hypospray for his trouble, but he wanted really wanted to know. "What happened to your ring, Doctor?"

McCoy scowled and glared at the Vulcan, and for a brief instant Spock thought maybe his own Emergency Contact information was going to be needed soon. But he just waited, and McCoy gruffly answered. "Oh, I just hit in on something about a month ago, don't know on what. I'm so damn busy I can't even remember what I had for breakfast most days." Dr. McCoy never met Spock's gaze during the answer, just kept scanning and noting. But Spock did notice a bit of a flush to the Doctor's cheeks. It was silent again, until McCoy finally looked up. "Okay, Spock, you're free to go, looks like you're perfectly healthy. I'll see you again in six months." As Spock got down from the table, McCoy spoke again. "By the way, is Jim on the bridge? I know he's been avoiding me for that physical, and I can't really put it off any longer."

Spock tried not to smile. "I believe he is, sir, but he wanted me to tell you that 'I haven't seen him today.'"

McCoy rolled his eyes and headed for the door. "Figures. Kid always makes me work for my pay." There was a hint of a smile on the Doctor's face as he left the Sickbay, presumably headed for the bridge to retrieve the errant Captain.

Spock stood in the deserted sickbay for a few more minutes, pondering all the new information he had learned. He decided that it really was a very good thing he didn't gossip. Spock left the Sickbay and returned to the bridge.


End file.
